6th of December

Our happy children enjoying the gifts, that Saint Nicholas has brought!

Little Helper

Anna is doing a great job in feeding Florian:
This has many benefits (they are having fun, he is eating more than usual, and for a moment they are occupied) but also one major drawback - the cleaning afterwards (table, seats, floor, and kids).

Birds and Bunnies

We lately had a fabulous family excursion to a falconry in Potsdam. We have been there with Anna's friends Arne, Darius and Paul, and their families - we were in total a bunch of 8 adults and 9 children and had great fun picknicking, petting and feeding bunnies and guinea pigs in the children's zoo, and watching the majestic birds of prey in the flight show. The flight of the snow owl was the most impressive part for me, as this bird flies absolutely without any sound - almost spooky!

Autumn in Potsdam

So far, we had a beautiful October in Potsdam! The first October weekend was still so sunny and warm that people enjoyed a last swim in the Havel and the kids played happily in the sand.
Shortly after, the weather got quite chillier, but nevertheless bright and sunny - and windy!!! Perfect conditions for kite flying:
That's also what we did when our dear friend Janos payed us a visit:
And Janos is an excellent nanny! The kids loved playing with him!
Only since yesterday, the first forerunners of grey winter high fog are covering our sky. I really keep my fingers crossed that we again will have an exceptional snow-rich winter...

Long Update

Kamil and Anna gone to a birthday party and having an aguish Florian sleeping on my lap gives me the long-awaited opportunity to update this badly abandoned blog - though just one-handed as the other one keeps Florian from falling from my lap... And it's quite strange to realize how quiet our flat can be - only the gentle snoring of Florian and my typing is to be heard. But now back to all the news and little stories I wanted to share with you:
The first post is about our stay in Austria, when Kamil gave a mapping field course for students in the Villnöss valley in South Tyrol and the kids and I got spoiled by our grand parents!
We also spent some time with my brother and his family. The four cousins had great fun playing together!
Intensive cooking:
Florian with aunt Ruth, his godmother:
He was absolutely thrilled by their little kitten Fritzi!
After Kamil had finished his field course, we met him in St.Ulrich (Gröden Valley, South Tyrol) where we enjoyed some days hiking, admiring beautiful geology and staying in my godmother's old house like in 2009.
At the end of our stay, we went for a beautiful hike near Innsbruck with Kamil's family - to the Hämmermoosalm in the Gaistal.
Uncle Michi was carrying Florian, Kamil took care of Anna so I could hike for myself without the feeling of being a carriage horse... (well, I was still carrying a backpack full of food, goodies, diapers and changing clothes for the kids!)
And to much of Anna's delight, they had quite a bunch of ponies up at the Alm!
I will stop here as Florian woke up and desperately tries to help me typing... More little stories come soon!

Norway

It was quite a busy summer for us - visiting friends in Poland and Norway, Kamil giving a field course in South Tyrol and attending a meeting in Munich, and me and the kids staying in Austria for three weeks. Now, as we are back home and daily routine is given a chance to establish again, I try to give you some insights and photos of our journeys.
So here we go: Norway!
We visited our dear friends Heike and Matthias and their one-year old son Karl. This wonderful friendship, which started many years ago during Kamil's PhD-time in Basel, is one of the long-lasting ones, for which we are really grateful! Sporadic mail contacts and even more sporadic visits did not harm our friendship, as we could experience this during our stay! And enduring this invasion of four (with two small kids) for more than two weeks, staying in a hut and their apartment together, really is a thorough proof an intact friendship, right? Thanks so much, Heike and Matthias, for this magnificent time we had with you!
As mentioned, we stayed in a lovely (Statoil-owned) hut in the Hardangervidda, a vast mountain plateau, which is Norway's largest National Park.
As we were extremely lucky weather wise, we were hiking a lot. Well, let's say we did not hike long distances, but carrying the kids and all the stuff you need with kids, short distances become quite demanding, too....
The kids in the Fjell:
In the hut, we celebrated Anna's saint's day. Heike made a beautiful "Cat-in-the-Moon" cake. (She is a passionate cook and pastry chef - we often had the great opportunity ti enjoy her fantastic creations!)
Heike and Kamil payed a visit to one of Norway's most famous attraction: the Preikestolen. This massive cliff of 604 metres offers a spectacular view across the Lysefjorden.
We then spent about a week in Stavanger, a lovely mid-sized town in the South of Norway, situated between coast, fjord, islands and mountains. (Actually it's the fourth largest town in Norway having the impressive number of about 126.000 inhabitants!) Here is a view on "Gamle Stavanger", the old district of the city.
We there visited the "Hermetik Museum", a museum dedicated only to the former production of canned brisling and fish balls, the main industry of this area before the discovery of oil. This museum is really fun also for kids as you can mimic the different steps of the fish can production using millions of rubber one-to-one replica of brisling fish.
To sum it up, we had a wonderful vacation in Norway - special thanks to Heike and Matthias!!!
And here some last photos of our little Norway fan!

At the Family Table

Since a few weeks, Florian sits on a high chair at our kitchen table. It feels like he is now a full member of the family having his "ancestral" place at the table! While the rest of the family is having its meals, he now eats his beloved (but truly tasteless) rice crackers or plays with a spoon - right here next to us. That makes him very happy - and we can dine undisturbed!

Pentecost Vacations 2011...

... or "Happy Kids":

(Darius, Anna and Arne eating cookies and watching Mason fooling around!)

One week ago, we repeated last year's Pentecost vacation in Wittenhagen - same place, same time (well, at least same holidays), same people. This is true - even though last year, our three youngsters were still well-packed...
And now, here they are - Florian (6 months), Helge (7 months) and Armin (8 months) with their proud dads:
We had a splendid time their - the kids enjoying the huge garden to the uttermost extend, running, jumping, biking, climbing, plashing, playing in the sand,...
We brought two tents, in which Arne and his dad and Anna and Kamil were sleeping - an exciting and well-appreciated new experience for the kids!
Eating ice-cream always was a high-light!
And like last year - the rocking chair was perfect to sooth the babies!

Various Pics of Grandma's visit

Having a grandma visiting always is very delightful - for the kids as they have a superb playmate, story teller and lullaby singer! - And of course for me, thus having finally some time to do "proper" cleaning in the flat, to quickly shop for some long needed clothes and to drop by the hair dresser. (Exciting things, aren't they?)
I really long for the next visit of a grandma!!!
Thanks so much for coming, mum!!!

And here are some more pictures taken recently: